


Unpretty

by howlsawiz



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Body Dysphoria, Body Image, Eventual Fluff, M/M, Self-Esteem Issues
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-05
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-09-28 11:16:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,788
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10097567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/howlsawiz/pseuds/howlsawiz
Summary: Prompto worked so hard to be the fit, somewhat good-looking guy he has become. He has finally become worthy to be called the prince's friend. But high school is hard. Noctis is perfect porcelain while Prompto still has reminders of when he was overweight he'd rather not show to anyone, let alone The Prince of Insomnia.





	1. Chapter 1

            The sun peeked through Prompto’s bedroom window, but he had already been up for at least an hour, his daily workout done and his shower taken. He draped himself onto his bed, towel wrapped around his waist. One leg hung off the side of the bed and an arm covered his eyes. Another morning in a completely silent house. No one was ever home but him.

            An alarm went off from the clock on the other side of his room. Prompto let it go for a good thirty seconds before forcing himself up. He walked over to the clock and turned off the blaring alarm, picked up his camera, and took the daily picture of himself in front of the mirror. He sighed at his reflection. The fat child he used to be had left his mark on his body, and no amount of running would completely erase that part of his life. His fingers traced the jagged scars of what he used to be on his stomach and sides, striped divots of skin once stretch past its limit, discolored and spiteful. A constant reminder of how he could never change his past.

            He got dressed quickly and packed his bag for school. The only thing he looked forward to was seeing Noct, his first and only friend. Seeing his face kept Prompto going. Upon a quick check in the fridge and finding it mostly empty, he realized lunch was going to be sad. He could always buy something in the cafeteria, but with all those choices, he didn’t need to choose the wrong thing. He was never going to go back to being the fat kid. Especially when he is now known as the prince’s friend. He had to make sure Noctis looked good, which meant he had to look good.

            He pulled out some carrots and cut them to fit in his lunch box. The cuts were uneven and by the time he was done, they looked pretty mangled, but it was the best he could do. He heard that carrots were supposed to be good for the skin. If he had to deal with his paleness and drown in a sea of freckles, he was going to at least make sure his face would be clean and healthy. Drinking water helped a lot with that too. He then threw in a handful of pea pods. After reading that peas were low in fat and high in practically everything else, Prompto made sure to eat as much of them as often as he could. Low fat. Prompto liked the sound of that. He shook the lunch box and mixed the vegetables together before throwing chunks of dried tofu dusted with spicy chili pepper powder. Spicy food supposedly helped weight loss.

            A couple chugs of milk from the carton and an apple tossed into his school bag for the walk to school, and he was ready to leave. He grabbed his bag and lunch and he was off, locking the door behind him.

 

            “Morning, Noctis,” he said. He plopped onto his chair backwards. He ignored the loud chatter of the rest of the classroom echoing in similar morning greetings and quick catch-ups among friends before class started.

            Noctis was resting his head on his hand, eyes closed. He slowly came to attention upon hearing Prompto’s greeting. A sleepy smile played at his lips. “Morning.” He yawned and stretched.

            “Are you ready for that math test today?” Prompto asked. He rested his arms on the back of his chair.

            “If I don’t know it by now, then I’ll just have to deal.” Noctis shrugged. He turned his attention to something beyond the window next to him.

            Prompto stared at his friend. Everything about him seemed be perfect and effortless, almost like a flawless video game character. How could he not look like perfection? Ignis cooked him beautiful meals regularly and he trained with Gladio all the time. He never had to worry about reverting to the fat kid no one wanted to talk to or had to eat the same three meals because he didn’t know how to cook anything else. Prompto felt lucky Noctis even looked his way, let alone allowed him to be his friend, but sometimes how easily looking good and being able to catch anyone’s eye came to Noct made him so incredibly jealous. All the girls wanted Noct, while they tolerated him. He still couldn’t shake the title of kid with a weird photography obsession.

            “Prompto?” Noctis’ words pulled him out of his thoughts.

            “Yeah?”

            “Want to go to the arcade after school?” Noctis never took his attention off the scenery outside, his eyes slowly starting to close again.

            “Yeah!” Prompto realized how excited he sounded and leaned back to try and correct himself. “Yeah, sure, sounds cool.”

            Noct smirked. “Good.”

            The bell chimed and their classmates settled down at their desks and prepared for class to begin.

***

            Even after a week of studying, Prompto could only stare blankly at the test in front of him. He tapped the eraser of his pencil against the desk as his brain churned to solve for x.

            “Prompto,” Noctis whispered, “relax.”

            Prompto glanced around the classroom. The teacher was making his rounds on the other side of the room. Figuring the odds of being caught was low, he chanced a peek behind him.

            Noct leaned his cheek on his hand, eyes closed. All but one of the questions were answered on his test. His pencil was poised in his free hand, the lead touching the paper ready to write the final answer Prompto was sure Noct knew. Of course he knew the answers, he had access to all the top tutors if he ever needed them. It must be nice. If only he stopped being a loser and asked Noct for help, maybe he could finally pass a single test…

            A throat clearing brought Prompto back to reality. He turned back to his own exam and tried his best to answer the questions. Skipping around, he managed to answer most of the questions by the time the bell chimed, and he hoped at least half of those were correct. He handed in the test and stretched. Lunch time.

            “Hey, it’s a nice day, let’s eat outside,” Noct said as he handed his own exam in.

            Prompto looked outside. It was the first warm spring day. The sun had finally come out and dried yesterday’s rain. The vibrant greens and colorful buds had returned after a winter’s slumber and it was too inviting to pass up.

            “Yeah, sure, sounds good.” He dug his lunch box out of his bag. He needed the distraction of a perfect day to forget about blowing that test. Needed to forget how much of a failure he was.

            “Grab your bag.” Noct swung his over his shoulder.

            Prompto’s brow furrowed.

            “You’ll see.” The corner of Noct’s mouth twitched. A restrained smirk. Prompto knew what that meant.

            “What are you planning?” he asked. He narrowed his eyes, but picked up his bag anyway. There was no saying no to the prince.

            Noctis chuckled. “It’s a surprise. Let’s get out of here.”

            Prompto nodded and followed his friend out of the classroom and into the hallway full of other students eager to enjoy the nice day as well. His stomach lurched as he realized he did question three completely wrong, which meant questions four through six were wrong as well. Another failed test. A long sigh escaped his lips before he put on his happy face and grinned at Noctis and put an arm around his shoulders.

            “Mind if I snap some shots while we eat?” he asked. “The lighting and colors are perfect.”

            “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you,” Noctis teased. He ruffled Prompto’s hair. “One of these days, you’re going to be a world famous photographer and math tests will be a thing of the past.”

            Prompto’s bright blue eyes widened. “You really think so? That would be so awesome!” He pulled his digital camera out of his bag and turned it on. “Look at some of the shots of the sun rise I got this morning” He shoved the camera into Noct’s hands with more exuberance than he intended.

            “I don’t know how you can get up that early. There’s no need to be awake before the sun if you ask me.” He looked at a particularly good shot of the sky gradually turning from dark blue to soft hues of lighter blues and finally soft yellows and oranges silhouetting the houses in Prompto’s neighborhood. “But you always manage to get the perfect shot,” he admired and handed the camera back to the blond.

            A light flush painted Prompto’s cheeks. “Yeah?”

            Noct laughed. “Yeah.”

            The sun’s rays were blinding as they stepped outside. Prompto blinked to try to adjust for the sudden light. He inhaled deeply, taking in the fresh, earthy smell of spring, and tilted his head toward the sun, soaking in the warmth. There was nothing more relaxing. He followed Noct to their usual bench under a budding cherry tree. Prompto straddled the bench and placed his small lunch box in front of him.

            Noctis plopped down opposite him and popped open a much larger lunch box. Every lunch he brought was restaurant quality, thanks to Ignis, well-balanced and beautifully presented. Today was marinated barramundi over a bed of coconut rice mixed with delicately cut zucchini. A perfect lunch for a perfect prince.

            Prompto’s stomach growled just looking at Noct’s meal. He sighed and hesitantly opened his lunch box. Comparatively, his lunch looked like it was prepared by a blind person using a chainsaw for a knife. He picked out a pea pod and crunched down on it.

            “Mom running late for work again?” Noct asked, eyeing Prompto’s lunch.

            His cheeks burned. He nodded slowly, eyes focused on the food in front of him. Running late, never there, what was the difference? Gone before we woke, never home when he came home, always leaving the grocery shopping to him, he had stopped wondering if his parents wanted him. They made that quite clear. 

            “How can you eat that? Carrots? Peas? No thank you.” Noct shoved a balanced forkful of fish and rice into his mouth.

            Prompto shrugged. “They’re not that bad.” He hated them. But they were high in vitamins and fiber, so he had to eat them. The only thing that sort of tasted okay was the dried tofu, but even then paled in comparison to marinated barramundi. He chewed slowly. The slower he ate, the faster he felt full, thus eating less. No more overeating for him. Never again.

            He set his picked-over lunch down and whipped out his camera. It chirped to life and he went to work. A quick snap of the few pieces of carrot and pea pods left in his lunch box. A stellar shot of Noct’s half-eaten meal. He stood on the bench to get a close-up of a budding branch. He turned and snapped a still of Noct looking lazily up at him, fork in his mouth. Prompto smiled and squatted down.

            “Perfection,” he said, quite proud of the last picture. He switched the camera to display mode and examined his handiwork. The sun gleamed on Noct’s silky midnight hair and his porcelain skin shone in the warm rays. Not a single cluster of freckles in sight. Prompto touched his own blemishes on his cheekbones and sighed.

            “Prompto.” Noct’s voice snapped him out of his slow spiral into self-doubt. A forkful of rice and fish was shoved into his face.

            He pulled back out of surprise and stared at Noctis’ offering. He really shouldn’t. He didn’t account for the calories today. It was just one bite. It couldn’t throw everything that far off balance, could it?

            Noctis pressed the fork against Prompto’s lips. “Open.”

            Hesitantly, he took the bite of food. The fish melted in his mouth and the sweetness of the rice cut the smoky marinade. He savored every last moment of it, chewing slowly. He swallowed and his stomach clawed at his abdomen for more. A noise of pleasure came out of Prompto that a high school student should never make, especially in public.

            “Good?” Noct laughed. He stuck his fork into his food again, preparing another bite for his friend.

            “Magical,” Prompto moaned. He licked his lips to take in excess flavor. Another bite was offered, but he pulled away. One taste was one thing, but another? Out of the question. But that fish was cooked to perfection. He tried to calculate how much extra work he was going to have to do that night if he took the second offering, but Noctis was not patient and insisted he share his food. Prompto sighed and took the bite. It was so good.

            Noctis smile grew as he watched Prompto enjoy Ignis’ cooking.

            The bell chimed to indicate the end of lunch. Prompto packed up his leftover scraps and stuff the lunch box into his bag. He hopped off the bench and started back toward the school, but Noct grabbing his hand stopped him.

            “Come on,” he said. That playful smirk shone through unrestrained. He tugged on Prompto’s arm and nodded toward the exit.

            “We’re are we going?” He didn’t really need to ask the question. There were only so many places they went together. He hoped for once Noct was joking.

            “The arcade. Come on, let’s go.” Noct gave Prompto’s arm another gentle tug.

            “But what about class?” He wasn’t doing well in school as it was. Did he really want to skip out?

            “You deserve a break.” He raised his eyebrows expectantly.

            Prompto sighed and stopped resisting. How could he say no to the prince?


	2. Chapter 2

            The flashing lights and clashing tunes of game consoles always overwhelmed Prompto. He could never focus on any one thing when he visited the arcade. Well, almost never. _RAVAGE REVERSE_ was one of the few games he was really good at, though Noct was an admirable opponent. They played two player mode and, when paired up, would always smash the high score on each of the three consoles. PANL had been the number one high score for weeks and the score was constantly climbing higher. No one bothered trying to beat them anymore, which was fine with Prompto, who held the high score for one player games on two of the consoles. Noctis had the high score on the third one.

            Today was a one on one kind of day. Knowing he had failed yet another test put Prompto in the mood to kill everything. It was the only thing he was good at. Well, one of the only things. He was pretty good at being terrible at math too. He and Noct fed the machine a few coins, picked up the plastic guns and sifted through the options for weapons and shooter.

            “Three, two, one,” Noct counted down. They both shot at the START and they were off, rapid fire shooting at the daemons chasing after them.

            Prompto didn’t blink. Everything around him faded from his attention. Each shot hit precisely where he wanted it to go. Crit, crit, crit, headshot, reload, continue shooting, continue surviving. Level one passed, level two, and three, and four. He had yet to miss a killing blow. It was a good day for killing daemons. Level twelve, thirteen, fourteen. He didn’t realize the small group of people that had gathered around him to watch him annihilate daemon after daemon. He didn’t notice Noctis purposely die just so he could watch.

            The crowd around Prompto grew as he cleared each level. Each shot was on point as the daemons became bigger, stronger, and manifested in hoards rather in one or three at a time. His reaction time had to be precise to clear the level unscathed. Adrenaline surged through his veins, his heart raced. There was nothing but him and the daemons on the screen. He could not hear the chanting of the throng of game enthusiasts. His breathing became shallow. Headshot, crit, crit. Each daemon had a different weakness. Only a second to reload before he had to attack again.

            Then came the final boss.

            Prompto had gotten to this point before dozens of times and beaten it only a handful of times, but this game felt different. He had cleared the current high score on the console a few levels ago. His goal was no longer to just beat his current best, but to get a perfect score. Weak spots flashed on various parts of giant daemon’s body as it rushed toward the screen, giving little room for error. He shot rapid fire, his movements almost mechanical. One shot after another. Then suddenly, there was nothing left to shoot.

            _WINNER!_ flashed across the screen followed by _NEW HIGH SCORE_. The crowd burst into cheers and strangers slapped Prompto on the back in congratulations. Prompto still had the gun raised to the screen, finger poised on the trigger. He watched as the score flashed on the screen. A perfect score. PROM was now number one on the high score list and there was no way to beat him.

            “Nice one, Prompto,” Noctis’ voice cut through all the noise.

            Prompto blinked for what seemed like the first time since the game started. His eyes stung a moment before re-adjusting. He looked over and Noct stood next to him, a soft smirk on his face. His cheeks flushed.

            “Uh, thanks.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. “’Bout time I did something good, huh?” He replaced the plastic gun into the holder. Strangers still commented on how awesome of a feat he had just achieved was, but Prompto paid no attention to them. All that mattered was Noct’s approval.

            Noct’s phone rang. He sighed and pulled it out of his pocket. “Iggy. Again.” He sighed and silenced the phone. It instantly started ringing again. He silenced it again.

            “Again? How many times has he called?” Prompto asked. The crowd had dissipated as soon as it appeared  

The phone rang again in Noct’s pocket. He shrugged. “Probably like a hundred.”

            “Why don’t you answer it so he’ll stop calling?” Prompto picked up his and Noct’s school bags and flung them over his shoulder.

            “Why would I want to do that?” He led Prompto toward the front of the arcade. “All he’s going to do is demand where I am and then yell at me for skipping school. Why would I want to deal with that?”

            “He’s going to do it when you get home if you don’t. Might as well get it out of the way?” he suggested.

            Noct sighed and answered the buzzing phone.          

            “Hello.” He sounded completely unenthused.

            Prompto could almost completely make out Ignis’ side of the conversation.

            Something about skipping school.

            “Yeah. At least I waited until after the exam.”

            Where the bloody hell was he and why didn’t answer his phone?

            “I went to the arcade, didn’t hear it.”

            Prompto’s name popped into the conversation. His face flushed when he heard ‘bad influence.’

            “It was my idea. Prompto wanted to go back to class. I made him come with me.”

            Ignis insisted otherwise and told Noct he was going to pick him up and they’ll discuss it further when they got home.

            “I’m going home now. There’s no need for you to come get me.”

            Ignis seemed to have calmed down a little bit because Prompto couldn’t hear the last comment, but he noticed Noct’s jaw tense.

            “I _know_. I’ll be home soon. Don’t send Gladio. Okay bye.” Ignis was still talking when Noct hung up and then turned the phone off. “Sorry about that.” He stuffed his phone deep into his pocket and took his bag from Prompto.

            “He doesn’t like me much, does he?” Of course he wouldn’t. Why would he? Ignis spent his entire life grooming Noct to be king one day and all Noct does is goof off and avoid his responsibilities with him.  How could Ignis _not_ think he was responsible for Noct’s defiance? He’s just a goofy nobody distracting the prince from his duties. Why did Luna want this for him?

            “He just doesn’t like when I don’t do what he wants. ‘Fun comes after duties.’” Noctis mocked in a bad imitation of Ignis.

            “I guess he’s right,” Prompto said.

            “One time isn’t going to ruin anything.” He slung his bag over his shoulder and headed in the general direction of his apartment.

            “For you,” Prompto said under his breath, following Noct.

            Noctis stopped walking.

            Prompto wasn’t paying attention and walked into him.

            “What’s that supposed to mean?”

            Prompto looked up to find Noct’s piercing dark blue eyes staring back at him. The burning in his cheeks spread across his face to his ears.

            “I-I just meant I really can’t afford to miss classes. I have a hard enough time keeping up as it is. I’m all for fun, but I’m so tired of summer school.” He rubbed the back of the handle of his school bag, the spot much lighter than the rest of the leather around it.

            Noctis smirked. “That’s all? Just come home with me after school and I’ll help you. If not, Specs can whether he likes it or not.”

            “Are you sure?”

            “Of course. Skipping won’t be any fun without you. Come on, let’s go to CC’s. My treat.”

            Prompto’s stomach dropped. Not more unexpected calories. “What about Ignis?”

            “What about him?”

            “You just told him you were going home.” He hoped that would deter Noct from making him go to the café.

            “I tell him a lot of things. Besides, it’s on the way.”

            Prompto stared at him a moment, inspecting every inch of Noct and trying to find a way out. He sighed, seeing no way out of it. “Yeah, okay.” He smiled and tried to hide the dread he felt.

            Noct smiled in return and draped an arm around Prompto’s shoulders. “Onward to pastries!” he shouted and pointed in the wrong direction of the café.

            Prompto smiled and removed Noct’s arm from his shoulders. “CC’s is in the other direction.”

 

            The small bell chimed when Noctis opened the door to ChocoCafe, the chocobo themed café he lovingly called CC’s. A barista in a bright yellow shirt and a hat that vaguely resembled a chocobo looked up and flashed a I-hate-my-job smile. The smile widened when he realized it was Prince Noctis who walked through the door.

            “Welcome to ChocoCafe, how can I help you today?” The rehearsed line came out chipper and not at all the way it would have been said if it was just Prompto.

            “That raspberry turnover and a chocolate raspberry smoothie. Actually, make that two raspberry turnovers,” Noctis said, peering at the pastries behind the glass display case. “And whatever Prompto wants.” He looked back at Prompto and smiled.

            Prompto couldn’t help but smile. Noct looked like a little kid in a candy store as he admired all the sweets behind the glass. There weren’t many things that got Noct so reactive, and sweets were definitely one of them. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to eat whatever he wanted and continued to look like Noctis did. The only time he would ever touch anything so full of fat and sugar was whenever Noctis was around. He couldn’t say no to that face, that smile.

            “And what would you like, sir?” the barista asked, a little less chipper.

            “Um, a small white tea with lemon in a to-go cup, please.”

            “Anything else?” the barista asked, typing in the order on the screen at the register.

            “That’s it?” Noctis asked. “Put another turnover on that order.” He handed over a couple bills without waiting for the total. “Keep the change.”

            He smiled and took the money. “Thank you, Prince Noctis.”

            Noctis nodded and quickly turned his attention back to Prompto as they waited for their order. “Aren’t you hungry?” he asked as quietly as he could over the whirring of the blender mixing his smoothie.

            Prompto shrugged. “Not really. Besides, I have to go soon. Gotta pick up something for dinner.”

            Noctis stared at him, studying him. Prompto’s face reddened once again under the scrutiny of Noct’s glance. “If you say so.”

            “Here you go, Prince Noctis, three raspberry turnovers, a chocolate raspberry smoothie, and a small white tea with lemon. If there is anything else I can do, don’t hesitate to call me over.”

            Noct picked up the plastic cup and small plate of pastries without acknowledging the barista’s words and picked a small table in the back corner of the café.

            Prompto smiled weakly and took his cup of tea and gave a small thank you before following Noct. He sat across from Noct and sipped at the hot liquid.

            Noctis pushed the plate to the middle of the table so they could share easily.

            Prompto stared at the plate. Three turnovers. Two of them being Noct's. That would be 580 calories, on top of the 130 smoothie in his hand that he was currently sucking down, would make this a 710 calorie snack to add to the 537 lunch he had, for a grand total of 1247 calories. Nothing an hour and a half workout couldn't fix, not that Noct would be doing said workout that day if he was sitting here with Prompto and not with Gladio at the moment.

           He felt tight and sweaty thinking about ingesting the 290 calorie pastry in front of him. Though he knew he had eaten a significantly smaller amount of calories than Noct that day, he still couldn't bring himself to eat more than he had planned for himself for the day. The white tea having 28 calories was bad enough.

         "Noct!" a small, girlish voice squealed.

         Prompto quickly turned his head to find the source of the voice. Iris trotted over to their table with Gladio trailing behind her.

        "Noct! Look at this pretty new dress I'm wearing!" she said quite loudly. She spun around and the skirt of the black dress with little red stars on it flowed around her.

       "It's very nice, Iris," Noct said, his voice flat.

        This was his chance. He didn’t need to eat that pastry.

       “Hey Iris, want a turnover?” Prompto asked. He pushed the plate of pastries toward her.

       Iris’ lit up as she snatched one off the plate and gave Prompto a huge smile. “Thank you!”

      “Don’t you have something you should be doing?” Gladio asked Noctis.

      “Yeah, I should be enjoying these delicious pastries with my best friend,” Noct replied and shoved a turnover into his mouth.

      Gladio narrowed his eyes at him. “Tomorrow. After school. You better be there or Specks is going to hunt you down.”

      “Yeah, yeah,” Noct mused. He took a drink of his smoothie.

      Prompto took this opportunity to take his leave. His stomach cried for the sweet confections in front of him and he needed to get away from temptation. Going to the store was going to be torture enough. He quickly stood, bumping the table. Noctis looked up at him, startled.

     “I forgot I have something I need to do, er, for my mom,” he rushed an excuse. “I’m sorry, Noct.”

      “No, right, yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Noct replied, seeming to play along with the mother excuse. Prompto couldn’t quite tell if Noctis knew he was lying or not, but he tried not to think too much about it.

     “Nice seeing you, Gladio. Iris,” he said awkwardly grabbing his cup of tea.

     “Bye bye!” Iris chirped through a mouthful of pastry.

     Prompto nodded and hurried toward the door.

     “Hey Prompto!” Noct called after him.

     Prompto stopped and looked back. “Yeah?”

    “Come with me after school. We can go back to the apartment to study after training.”

    Gladio snorted. “Yeah, study,” he chided.

    Prompto’s face flushed. “Oh, uh, yeah okay. I’ll see you then.” With that, he slipped out the door. He tossed the mostly full cup of tea in the nearest trash can and tightened the strap of his backpack before jogging toward the store. Dinner needed to be low in everything, if he ate it at all. He most definitely needed to find something prettier for lunch tomorrow. There could only be so many times his mother ran late in a week.

 _Maybe,_ he thought, _maybe Gladio would let me get another workout in while he’s training with Noct._ He smiled. A workout with actual equipment. The thought left his head spinning. Or maybe it was his strict diet. Either way, Prompto ignored it and focused on the possibility of tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh, I'm really sorry this took so long to update. Life kind of...got out of hand. This chapter sat almost completely finished for months. I hope it sounds okay. It was written in very sporadic chunks. Please be gentle, I'm trying my best!


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